The European Union has decided to increase the timeframe for claiming compensation on a delayed flight from three to four hours. After twelve years of discussions, European Unions nations have consented to prolong the duration passengers must wait before they can seek redress for a delayed flight.
For short-haul flights, compensation claims can now only be made after a delay of four hours or more, while long-haul travellers will need to endure a six-hour delay.
A4E, which represents leading European airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and Ryanair, has indicated that increasing the threshold to five hours could prevent 70 per cent of flight cancellations, potentially aiding up to 10 million passengers annually.
Europe has been waiting for transparent and workable passenger rights for 12 years and member states have fallen at the final hurdle to deliver...member states have diluted the European Commission's original proposal and introduced even more complexity," A4E expressed in a statement
German members of the European People's Party have voiced their opposition, stating that "decreasing the rights to compensation for air passengers would be a step in the wrong direction. Reimbursement after a three-hour delay has been standard for many years and should remain so".